Tips from the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
Newsletter for reducing the amount of waste we generate during the holiday season.
- When shopping, bring your own reusable tote bag rather than accepting a separate bag for each purchase.
- Choose products that are minimally packaged.
- Give experiences, not stuff.
- Give of yourself.
- Give a gift that keeps giving.
- Donate old things to charity.
- Recycle cardboard and boxes.
- Don't use wrapping paper.
And many more. Including, of course:
Compost your kitchen food scraps from holiday dinners and parties. Remember, in yard waste composting, compost fruit and vegetable wastes not meat or grease. [In other words, no animal products.]
Some communities recycle Christmas trees, chipping and mulching them for compost or landscaping materials. Trees must be free of tinsel, decorations, nails, tacks or any other foreign materials. Check with your town office to see if a tree recycling programs exists in your area. You can use branches as mulch under acid-loving bushes and shrubs, such as rhododendrons or evergreens.
New York City has a city-wide Christmas tree recycling program. Trees are usually picked up the first couple of weekends in January.
1 comment:
Excellent advice. This year I am trying out decorative outdoor solar lights (in my tree). I wish they weren't so expensive, more people could be persuaded to use them--it looks like Times Square on some lawns in my neighborhood--conserving electricity would be advisable as well.
Post a Comment